Amorphous shaped charge component and manufacture

Abstract

An amorphous-based material component may be incorporated into a liner for a shaped charge used in perforating a wellbore casing. Other components of the shaped charge and/or perforating gun that accommodates the shaped charge may be of amorphous-based materials. Further, the liner and other components of the shaped charge may be manufactured by way of three dimensional printing. Indeed, a multi-material three dimensional print application may be utilized to form shaped charge components simultaneously along with an entire perforating gun system.

The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. A shaped charge for use with a perforating gun in forming a perforation into a formation at a well wall with a jet, the shaped charge comprising:
 a case; 
 an explosive pellet accommodated by the case; and 
 a liner comprising an amorphous-based metal material in glass form and one or more reactive materials that are exposed from within the amorphous-based metal material for reactivity following detonation of the shaped charge, the liner tailored to enhance the jet in forming the perforation, wherein the one or more reactive materials comprises titanium, wherein the liner has a shape feature, and wherein the shaped charge is configured such that the stretch of the jet runs between material at a head of the jet and material at a tail of the jet, and the jet has a velocity gradient with the head travelling greater than five times the speed of the tail. 
 
     
     
       2. The shaped charge of  claim 1 , wherein the jet is substantially slug-free relative the perforation formed thereby. 
     
     
       3. The shaped charge of  claim 1 , wherein the case includes a material that is one of steel, zinc, an amorphous-based material and a porous material. 
     
     
       4. The shaped charge of  claim 1 , wherein the case is of a material character selected to substantially match a material character of the liner in one of impedance, density and sound speed. 
     
     
       5. The shaped charge of  claim 1 , wherein the perforating gun is of a material that is one of a corrosive and an amorphous-based material. 
     
     
       6. The shaped charge of  claim 1 , wherein the shape feature is a heel. 
     
     
       7. The shaped charge of  claim 1 , wherein the liner is formed using a three-dimensional printer. 
     
     
       8. The shaped charge of  claim 7 , wherein each of the case, the explosive pellet, and the liner are formed using the same three dimensional printer. 
     
     
       9. A liner for incorporation into a shaped charge to form a perforation into a formation at a well wall with a jet, at least a portion of the liner comprising a shape feature, an amorphous-based metal material in glass form, and one or more reactive materials that are exposed from within the amorphous-based metal material for reactivity following detonation of the shaped charge, wherein at least the portion of the liner is tailored to enhance a stretch of the jet to provide a velocity gradient of greater than 5 and remain substantially slug-free relative the perforation, and wherein the one or more reactive materials comprise titanium. 
     
     
       10. The liner of  claim 9 , further comprising an additive of the amorphous-based metal material to tailor a characteristic of the jet, the additive selected from a group consisting of a binder, a density enhancer, a crystalline powder, and a reactive material agent. 
     
     
       11. The liner of  claim 10 , wherein the crystalline powder is tungsten. 
     
     
       12. A method, comprising:
 deploying a perforating gun into a well to a target location adjacent a formation; and 
 detonating a shaped charge within a body of the gun at the location to generate a jet of enhanced character having a velocity gradient greater than 5 for tunneling a perforation into the formation, the shaped charge comprising a case accommodating an explosive pellet adjacent to a liner comprising an amorphous-based metal material in glass form and one or more reactive materials that are exposed from within the amorphous-based metal material for reactivity following detonation of the shaped charge, the liner supporting the enhanced character, wherein the one or more reactive materials comprises titanium, and wherein the liner includes a shape feature. 
 
     
     
       13. The method of  claim 12 , wherein the enhanced character is one of a substantially slug-free character of the jet and an enhanced stretch of the jet. 
     
     
       14. The method of  claim 12 , further comprising running a reaction to break up material of one of the body of the gun, the case, and the liner into non-occlusive particle sizes following the detonating. 
     
     
       15. The method of  claim 14 , wherein the reaction is one of an exothermal reaction, an oxidation reaction, and a reaction cleaning out debris in the perforation. 
     
     
       16. The method of  claim 14 , wherein the running of the reaction comprises exposing the one or more reactive materials of the liner, or one or more additional reactive materials of one of the body of the gun and the case, or both, upon the detonating. 
     
     
       17. The method of  claim 12 , wherein the liner is of a tailored morphology. 
     
     
       18. The method of  claim 12 , wherein the three dimensionally formed component is of a tailored material gradient. 
     
     
       19. The method of  claim 18 , wherein the material gradient is tailored with respect to one of density, porosity, cavities, corrosives, reactive material and selectively integrated non-explosive material.